The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Joseph Olaoluwa

10-man Nigeria edge out Sudan

Nigeria has again emerged victorious in the semi-final match of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) today in Marrakech, Morrocco defeating Sudan one goal to nothing.

This occurred after they were granted an early lead by Gabriel Okechukwu in the 16th minute who was assisted by a header from Anthony Okpotu.

Nigeria’s Goalie, Dele Ajiboye however proved to be the better replacement the team needed after Ikechukwu Ezenwa was substituted due to a knee injury he incurred in the cause of the match.

Nigeria came close again to threaten the Sudanese goal but showed lack of discipline in front of goal as Akram continued to disallow any more goals.

Mohamed Ahmed Bechir would have made the scores level at the end of the first period save the impressive display of Ajiboye in keeping the ball out even as it danced to the bar of the post on the goal line.

In the 58th minute, Ifeanyi Ifeanyi was unlucky as a clumsy challenge led to his immediate send-off after being booked in the first half, leaving Nigerian down to 10 men.

Pressure continued to double on both sides until Bachir Sudan was sent off in the 87th minute.

Nigeria finally emerged victorious in the game after another wonderful display of saves from Dele Ajiboye in the closing minutes of extra time.

Nigeria will now face Morocco in the final match of the tournament of the African Nations Championships, (CHAN).

January 31, 2018
BBNaija: Miracle and Nina kiss in shower

Less than two days in the house and the romance journey has already begun in the house.

This morning Miracle and Nina take the lead as they are captured sharing a passionate kiss in the shower.

The twists, emotions and desires have begun in two days. Who will be the next to share the next intimate moment.

Read Also: BBNaija: Tobi becomes first Head of House

https://youtu.be/I8avssvPi9w

January 30, 2018
Why CSOs and Journalists must work together

I remember having to ask Edetaen Ojo what is the difference between Civil Society Organisations ( CSOs ) and Non-Governmental Associations (NGOs). It was a long throaty laughter he gave when he tried to explain the difference.

This was the first time I will be in a meeting of both Journalists and Civil Society Organisations, and Edetaen Ojo, who recognised the dilemma in my question, was quite patient to explain the difference.

In his opinion, NGOs and CSOs are the same. However, Civil Society Organisation is the broader term used in characterising what the advocates of social justice and good governance do. Not to forget that Non-Governmental Individuals (NGIs) do exist; they are in Barrister Onyinyechi’s explanation, “the unscrupulous individuals that attract bigger funding from external bodies for a purpose, and end up sharing the money equally amongst themselves without using the fund attracted for its initial claim.” Social Justice is of no meaning to them, as they are in the business for the advancement of getting personal gain for themselves

May be that was the reason the Federal Government sought to scourge them and fight them with several policies like the anti-NGO bill, threatening the core of their existence. The meeting facilitated by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) made me to understand that the media and CSOs are both advocates for social justice and good governance, employed in the service of the well-being of the greater good for the people.

Thus, I wasn’t too surprised to see several organisations under the Civil Society Organisations. Initially, one would pass them as activists, probably noisemaking eloquent individuals that like to speak good English on TV. I was in an interview with an activist once and I knew how strictly I had to sanitise that report lest it rescinds into a libellous claim against the government and my organisation.

CSOs are an integral part of the society. They have all the sources to the grassroots and public donors but they face one problem with the press. What Barrister Onyinyechi of the South Saharan Social Development Organization outlined as visibility. That is the area in which they need the press to help project their work to the people and the world beyond. In a society like Nigeria, where it is difficult to share human issues that people deal with on a personal basis, it is quite hard to go public for many reasons. Shame is a major part of the problem. Then there is fear, victimisation and stigmatisation. Coming out to talk on real human issues of abuse, Female Genital Mutilation, Rape, VVF, HIV/AIDS to mention a few is frantically impossible.

Read Also: “Civil societies are the third sector of the society”- Edetaen Ojo

With Civil Society Organisations, your secrets are safe. Some of the issues never cease to worry them in the least. They are ever willing to share and help. But must these CSOs then pay for press coverage? Bearing in mind that some members of the press could be owed salaries for months with their employers doing nothing to salvage the issues?

Must they pay the press for coverage of the ideals that will promote human good, social justice and good governance? Do CSOs not have funding for Media campaigns?

Many sides vary in this argument. But the most important aspect is that both sides must work together and generate a meaningful relationship beyond just transactional journalism to highlighting the real issues affecting people. People that both CSOs and Journalists have sworn to protect.

What are the metrics of social justice and good governance? Is it the quarterly inflation rates of the UN, UNESCO, and other regulatory bodies that are churned out as reports daily? Over 6 million people lost their jobs in Nigeria last year. Is this the viable economy that our Ministers and Heads of State always push and propagate about?

Social Justice and good governance is for the people. If the people are well taken care of, the Government will be applauded. Is it not the mandate of the people that the Government must obey? Social Justice is the link between the grassroots and the people. The CSOs must join hands with the fourth realm of estate as espoused by William Burke to bring the development to the Nigeria of our dreams we have always talked about.

Let the Journalists and CSOs now work together. This way, the government will feel the due pressure to fulfil its numerous promises, be accountable to the people and good governance will ensue.

January 29, 2018
Open Medic, a solution to drug availability in Nigeria

Meet Dennis Akagha, Founder of Open Medic, a platform dedicated to helping Nigerians find drugs within their respective locations

Dennis had obviously had his own share of losses, part of which included surviving from the deadly paws of Ebola that ravaged Nigeria in 2014, as well as losing his fiancé to the deadly menace. But Dennis never gave in. He was undeterred. His loss became his inspiration to develop a system that will transform the lives of Nigerians for the better.

Dennis Ahagha, a Civic-Hive fellow of 2017 who launched Open Medic at the Civic Hive Demo day 1.0 in Yaba, Lagos State, last Saturday spoke with our correspondent on how he built a platform that enables Nigerians to obtain easy access to vaccines wherever they may be.

It was an eureka moment for the Civic-hive fellows who completed their fellowship last Saturday at the Civic Hive, Yaba, Lagos as they showcased their latest innovations which had them preoccupied over the cause of the previous year. Majority of the showcase tended to how effectively technology can be combined to support humanity and civil activities. Hence, the name Civic-tech innovations demo day 1.0, an avenue where fellows can showcase their work to a particular number of the public for testing, evaluation and recommendations.

One of the fellows, Dennis Ahagha while giving his presentation gave a compelling narration of the demise of his fiancé, describing her as the inspiration for the formation of Open Medic, a platform whereby essential drugs can be made available for people in whatever location they might find themselves. Speaking to our correspondent about her, he said:

“I am one of those who survived Ebola in 2014. My fiancé died of Ebola. She was one of the nurses in the hospital. What happened was that she needed oxygen but due to the time-frame, we could not get oxygen. Not that oxygen was unavailable, but we did not have a platform where we could actually locate oxygen. Someone actually called us from Abuja that they had oxygen over there but it took us 24 hours to fly down the oxygen to Lagos, before then she had actually passed on. That was actually what inspired me to come up with an oxygen bank.”

However, the idea of an oxygen bank was not entirely workable. This was due to the heavy competition in the sector.

Read Also: ‘Drugs worth over N200m recovered’

“Oxygen bank could not work because we could not out-run the major players in the industry. So we decided not to deliver oxygen due to how critical it was; since we are a start-up, we decided to bring something to help people locate where this oxygen is located.” Dennis stated.

This led to the birthing of Open Medic. Dennis described Open Medic as: “a platform that gives people information on where to get easy access to essential drugs.”

Dennis went further to demonstrate the workings of Open Medic, as he proceeded to opening the website which is easily accessible online.

“All you have to do is type in http://www.openmedic.org.ng/ and register on the site. The site has two forms of registrations- you can either register as a pharmacist or as an individual. Once you are registered, all you need to do is log-in.” He added. He explained that log-in details are also provided from social media platforms like Facebook, for users to log-in.

Dennis explained how inaccessibility to drugs has endangered lives of many, as well as women and children. He said: “2,300 children die from inaccessibility to vaccines every year and it takes an average of three and half hours to see a doctor in Nigeria,” Dennis espoused. These reasons and more were the inspiration towards his project of providing an avenue for people to get essential drugs.

Dennis Ahagha stressed the importance of “essential drugs” which was the major reason why the platform was created.

“Essential drugs are prescription drugs. These are drugs you don’t see on the counter. They are drugs that before you are given, doctors will require prescription for you from the hospital. These are essential drugs. Take drugs like diazepam and codeine for instance. Initially, codeine used to be on-the-counter drug but because people are abusing it, they made it a prescription drug. Before a pharmacy will sell codeine for you, they will need to see a prescription from the medical doctor. These are the kinds of drugs we can see on the platform as well as other medical consumables.”

Dennis who did a trial for paracetamol, but experienced difficulty in finding it on the site, explained that the platform was designed to find essential drugs.

Our correspondent wanted to know how well the platform has served users.

“We just launched it today, hopefully before the month runs out; we will be approaching pharmacies to subscribe to the platform. It is until pharmacies subscribe to this platform that is when you as someone who requires a particular drug will identify which pharmacy is in your area. This is a lot of work for us and it is something we have started but we will already get there.”

Dennis explained that Open Medic is an online platform, a web platform where you have to look up the drug you are in need of.

“It tells you where to get a particular drug within your location. If you are in Yaba, Okoko, it tells you the pharmacy around you that has the exact drug. You can interact with them and they are already on our platform. You can interact with them and ask: ‘Do you have this?’ It is like a chat, a conversation and it is quick.

“If you are a pharmacy, you register with our platform and it captures all that you are doing. The drug request message can reach you, since you have email alert on your phone.”

Dennis took the notch higher by adding an SMS (Short Message Service) alert to the platform. Because of the fact that others might not have email alert on their phone, we then formed an SMS Alert alongside the email alert. The email alert is free but the SMS alert is not free. Pharmacies will have to pay for SMS Alert. Every Pharmacy would want to sell, so it is advisable that they get an SMS Alert. However, the email alert is free.

Dennis gave an overview of the Pharmacies he had partnered with.

“We did a test run with Pharma Solutions. I personally went there and asked them some questions. Some of my colleagues who are also in Pharmacy are also interested. We have contacts in Ibadan. The guy that was speaking at the Demo has more experience and he is a pseudo team member. Most of the people we are working with a pharmacists. Because of the people we are working with we are prioritising how we can easily get the drugs closer to the people.”

Dennis added that a web platform had already been launched that Saturday. However plans were made for a mobile app and subsequently SMS alert to make the service very easy and affordable for people to use.

“In March with lots of funding and investments, we are transitioning to having a mobile App of which a lot of people appreciate mobile Apps even right now. The mobile App is very simple, we don’t need to have the hard copy of your prescription, all you need to do is snap your prescription and upload it to the platform. Just snap it and send it to the mobile app, the pharmacy will recognize that you have prescription for the drugs and then they can sell the drugs to you.”

Our correspondent asked Dennis on ways to make the service friendlier and user optimised.

Dennis spoke of the last transition phase which included the need for creating a short service code workable for SMS that will allow people who do not have access to education like hawkers, market women and artisans alike a chance to access drugs at their fingertips.

“To make it more friendly, that is why we are bringing in the SMS platform. The SMS platform can be accessed with an actual torchlight phone. All you need to do is type in some numbers like 2345 and it gives you options like a unique short-code. This innovation will be for rural communities who don’t have access to internet and for those who are not internet savvy.“

January 28, 2018
“Civil societies are the third sector of the society”- Edetaen Ojo

Edetaen Ojo has described the formation of Civil Society Organisations as major players in the world order, currently ranked at number three in the world.

This was at a round-table session organised by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) on Wednesday between the Media and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) at the Best Western Starfire Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.

The round-table session, attended by a total of 34 participants from both the Civil Society Organisations and the Media was focused on charting a new course for governance and accountability campaigns where effective partnerships and collaborations can be forged to ensure good governance and accountability in West Africa.

Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director of the Media Rights Agenda while explaining the roles of the Media and Civil Society Organisations stated that Civil Society Organisations have gained recognition globally for being the third sector in clamouring for good governance and social justice around the world.

This is after the first two sectors which include the Government and the Private sectors respectively.

Read Also: Minister challenges CSOs, media on treasury looters

“The concept of Civil Society is one that has been constantly evolving for decades. Since the 1990s, Civil Society has gained formal recognition as the third sector and is now seen globally as a major player in the current world order.” Ojo stated.

Akinbode Oluwafemi, Deputy Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria emphasized the need for the formation of reasonable partnerships between CSOs and the media.

He urged CSOs to see the media as one body in the same struggle of media advocacy for the people at the grassroots. He encouraged trainings and meaningful partnerships and the importance of framing narratives and stories in the best possible way.

“Both parties must exude values which hover around confidentiality and respect. Both parties must be credible and leverage on existing networks,” he said.

At the end of the round-table, both parties published a communiqué to chart sustainable roles for continued partnership . Part of which included the need to amend or remove section 6(6)(c) of the 1999 Nigerian constitution to enable the CSOs undertake litigation in appropriate cases to enforce compliance with the provisions of section 22 of the constitution.

The communiqué also stressed the importance for both parties to be involved in Media and CSO campaigns from the outset and the need to redefine the act of storytelling with a human angle, as well as evaluating best forms of undertaking media campaigns.

January 26, 2018
Nigerians react to emergence of sex dolls

A US study has revealed that a number of men would in the not too distant future rely on sex dolls for their sexual and emotional needs.

This development is not unconnected with the emergence of the massive production of sex dolls across Europe estimated to cost $2000.

One which is expected to cost between 800,000 to a million in naira.

And on 16th March 2017, an artificial intelligence sex doll, Samantha has been created with the ability to form emotional closeness.

For Sergi Santos, the manufacturer of the sex doll he said: “She can keep up with the atmosphere of a family gathering, and, can move from being romantic to feeling sexy.”

This development has sparked several other manifold creations, like the creation of male sex dolls and children sex dolls in fact.

Not long past, a company – Trottla – started manufacturing lifelike child sex dolls.

While the move attracted much outrage then, the founder of Trottla, Shin Takagi contended that the lifelike child sex dolls were intended to help paedophiles stop committing crimes.

According to Takagi, the child sex dolls are saving children from sexual abuse. He was quoted to have said:

“I often receive letters from buyers…the letters say, ‘thanks to your dolls, I can keep from committing crime.’

We recently conducted a poll on the emergence of sex dolls in Nigeria and the commercialization of sex dolls by brothels in Germany and Spain.

While several Nigerians have described this new approach to sexuality as foreign and devilish, others have embraced the idea. Some ladies have continued to shun the idea of sex dolls; believing that nothing else can beat the natural methods of love making while others have begun to feel inferior to the fact that they can even be compared to sex dolls.

Read Also: ‘By 2050 sex dolls will outclass human love making’

Here is what Nigerians had to say:

Solidgold Anthony

Since this sex doll start trending my girl is now calling me every morning to know if I have eaten #girlsareprostesting#

Christiana Abimiku

Well this is not food for poor man. Having said that, how much does original sex cost per hour? With 800k to buy a doll those that mean they will not go after other sex again or will all your earnings be on sex only? Don’t fool yourself there is not total satisfaction with this.

Solomon T Owolabi

Any man that can sleep with a sex doll, will certainly sleep with a dead woman or animal! So if you see such person with any kind of doll, please don’t ever allow him to have access to the mortuary or animal ranch or colony!!!!

Alex Chi

Did we come to earth for fornication?

Austine Anumudu

Satanic infected world… The USA is a devil’s own country. They will stop at nothing in propagating devil’s agenda…The satanic loyalists rule the world. They are there in the government, judiciary, entertainment, fashion&design. They pledged allegiance to the devil& as such exploring marvelously well in their respective domain. They will do nothing good but to please the devil’s agenda…

Sex dolls? How can a reasonable person indulge in this kind of immorality. Immorality at its peak…800k is it not enough to marry a woman and have it as much as you want. Can this be compared to a woman’s flavour? Arrant nonsense!

Chibuike Ugonna

Crazy world. Knowledge is good but some knowledge is destroying the world…men marry to men, woman marry to woman, sex doll, etc. All are weapons made by the devil to destroy the mankind.

Iqra Taye

This one will never demand money or getting tired Everytime she is ready, yellow card to my gf this is most important things oyibo ever created, their wife’s always gives them problems now you can buy the gal 24 7 no complaints

Sherif Durojaiye

Traveling to have sex with the doll might soon be the next highest level of exposure, Satan might be whispering to some people to go try it. Begin to curse Satan and the initiator of this vice now

Aliu Joseph Oluwafemi

Its a good innovation but should be recommended for teens since they are curious about new things thereby prevent them from early deadly disease e.g UTI, STD, hepatitis C, B, Syphilis HIV and so on… But for adult its a taboo

January 24, 2018
Victims of double sim registration

It was a rude shock early this morning, as early as 6:25am when our correspondent got this message from telecommunication giants, Airtel. It read:

“Dear Customer, you have been barred for incomplete registration as directed by NCC. Kindly call 121 for reactivation.”

For our Correspondent who thought this was a prank, played by unscrupulous elements tried to access the internet via his smartphone. However, it failed to connect. He tried to call some numbers; but to no avail. Instead, he was ordered to re- register his sim with Airtel. This is after completing his first sim registration with the telecommunication network where the sim was working alright, enabling our correspondent access the internet before this early morning stunner.

This story doesn’t come without some background.

“Last month, our correspondent in need of a new network for internet subscription bought an Airtel sim for the price of 50 naira. This occurred on old Akesan road, not too far across from the Igando Police Station, Lagos State. In fact the registration was done in front of a shop called Sunfax Communication slightly adjacent the Igando Police Station where several rows of stalls are erected.”

There was a December Christmas bonaza and two Airtel operators who wore Airtel uniforms cajoled our correspondent to get a sim for 50 naira only. This came with free registration as a freebie for the Yuletide. This was where our correspondent bought the sim. The sim was promptly registered and our correspondent was told to recharge and make a call as soon as he got home.

On getting home, our correspondent did as he was told, not knowing that he would not be able to get the full functions of the sim registeration. He was unable to place calls but was actually able to receive an incoming call. He dialled the customer care with this complaint and after receiving an ID of complaint labelled ANG20171218132032145; he thought the issues will be promptly attended.

All he got in the end was a configuration message and permission to access the internet but was still not given the ability to place calls. His new sim gave him the ability to receive calls and browse the internet alone. No chance for outbound calls or text but he could recharge and after dialling the customer care for the second time with the same complaint, all he got was: “your compliant is currently treated.”

Since the essence of buying the sim was for internet subscription, our correspondent continued to enjoy the Airtel sim not until today that he got the heart wrenching message and was unable to access the internet all day.

This forced our correspondent to go down to the Airtel Office in Igando Market, very close to the BRT bus-stop. He was attended to by Abdulrasheed Faleye, an Airtel attendant who was willing to help.

On getting to the Airtel office, our correspondent was approached by Abdulrasheed, who assumed our correspondent wanted to either buy or register a sim. He was seated outside with a colleague wearing the Airtel branded uniform and immediately stood up as our correspondent entered. Our correspondent who described his coming to the Airtel office as a complaint; due to the fact that his line was barred was met by a persistent and confident Abdulrasheed who refused to be turned down or shrugged aside.

Abdulrasheed promptly agreed to help but our correspondent was initially bent on speaking to the head of the office. He was of the opinion that the matter will still be resolved by him. He ordered our correspondent to go in, saying: “She will still direct you back to me to help.”

Hearing this, our correspondent relayed the whole matter leading to the ban placed on his line in the early hours of the day.

Abdulrasheed who saw the instance as a scam,confided in our correspondent and stated that issues like these don’t seem new.

“There are several people that come to us with your request all day. It is mostly on issues like these which are closely related to sim registration scams.”

Our correspondent who wanted to know how these unscrupulous individuals could be identified questioned the Airtel attendant if they were loopholes in detecting sim fraudsters.

“There is no way in knowing them. They all wear the branded Airtel shirts. They also carry tabs like these and input all your information including fingerprints too. Did they tell you our office is here and they we work on weekends?”

Our correspondent responded in the affirmative and went further to tell Abdulrasheed that these fake airtel staff knew that the official Airtel branch in Igando close by 2pm on weekends. All of which Abdulrasheed agreed were true.

“How many fingers were registered and did they ask for your mother’s maiden name and full street address?”

Our correspondent answered in affirmative saying the fingers used for the registration were the thumb and index finger and supplied all necessary details involved.

However, Abdulrasheed made a case for some of Airtel staff engaged in registration.

“It might be a network problem. I spent a whole morning registering a particular sim,” he explained. “Those people have gone now,” he looked behind him.

“Sometimes even the NCC rejects these details, it is not Airtel that collects the information but the NCC and they can refuse to accept the details due to incomplete registration at times. Other times it could be owing to mistakes in name, maiden name and street address. Maybe you didn’t mention yours in full.”

In the end, Abdulrasheed offered to help our correspondent and demanded the sum of 200 naira for sim re-registration. This is not after taking our correspondent to meet other Airtel staff and asking him to fish out the bad fish. Some of his work colleagues who met with our correspondent acclaimed that it must have been a scam and the first sim registration was fraudulent.

However, Abdulrasheed felt our correspondent was gifted a free sim since it was sold for 50 naira. Abdulrasheed went ahead to activate the line and exchanged calls with our correspondent to ascertain the validity of the line and if it was indeed working.

For another Airtel customer whose experience isn’t quite different from our correspondent opined that the process was indeed a scam and thus fraudulent. Sadeeq Bukar, who spoke to our correspondent on the issue relayed his own experience.

“I bought the sim registered and after some months they be telling me that my sim is not registered.” This, according to him was after three to four months of using the sim card.

I visited Airtel registration centre and complained to them and they registered the sim again. I bought mine from those that sell sims in car and they told me it was registered.”

When asked how much he bought the first sim, he said: “I initially paid 150 naira for the first sim registration,” but after he went to re-register the sim, he paid the sum of 100 naira.

January 18, 2018
Lecture: Ozekhome’s invitation an insult to Fawehimi’s memory- Group

Alliance for Nigerian Students against Neo-liberal attacks (ANSA) has faulted the inclusion of Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN as a contributor during the 14th Gani Fawehinmi Annual Lecture held at the Ikeja Airport Hotel, Lagos.

The group which protested while Professor Demola Popoola, Former Dean, Faculty of Law OAU, Ile-Ife was delivering a keynote lecture at the symposium caused a row at the entrance of the hall.

National Secretary of ANSA, Adeyeye Olorunfemi, who spoke with our correspondent explained their action.

“This is not a battle of self aggrandizement, but a show of protest against anyone who wants to rubbish the ideals, the principles upon which Gani Fawehinmi was fought, imprisoned and died. No man must rubbish his principles.

“We must get to a stage in this country when we see corrupt persons come into our midst and we all stand and leave because of their presence, ” he said.

Adeyeye alleged that Ozekhome is know for representing corrupt persons in the country.

“It is well known. This is someone who defends Patience Jonathan, Oliver Metuh. He represents anything called corruption in Nigeria. These are the people frustrating the anti corruption battle in Nigeria. Even though the battle is one sided.

This man coming through the lopsidedness of the law and using that to defend these corrupt officials is against Fawehinmiism which is the philosophy that is even bigger than the family of Gani Fawehinmi.”

Read Also: Ozekhome mobbed at Fawehinmi lecture

National Coordinator for ANSA, Sanyaolu Juwon said inviting Chief Mike Ozekhome as a slap and insult to the memories and legacies of Gani Fawehinmi.

“What is wrong in the first instance is inviting Mike Ozekhome. We can as well just bring in Obasanjo, Buhari so that we can know that we are no longer honouring the memory of Chief Gani Fawehinmi, ” he stated.

Juwon described the invitation of Chief Mike Ozekhome as a rude shock. “He represented everything Gani Fawehinmi fought against in his lifetime.”

“How do you describe someone using the instrument of law to defend corrupt public officials who are the cause of millions of death, hunger, starvation

unemployment, misery, poverty?

“How do you use the instrumentality of law to defend their profligacy?”

Juwon blamed the elite and ruling class for the situations we found ourselves.

“The reason for our protest is to show our displeasure against the invitation of these guests and to regard it as an insult to memories of Chief Gani Fawehinmi.

“This is our own way of passing a message.”

January 17, 2018
Music Review: One Hit

Cobhams Asuquo’s One Hit is a song dedicated to every artiste, artisan and practicing professional who is looking to taste that bit of glory in achieving immense success.

In this part of the world where success is the talk of the town and continent, everyone is looking forward to that glorious moment in their lives, even if it will just last a day, a few hours, or far less in fame or a twitter or a Facebook thread.

Hence the title of this song, One hit. It is commonly believed that there are one hit artistes who just release a single and make it instantly. Even if they lose the inspiration to stun the music scene thereafter.

This song is for every hustler, it is not just for musicians. And we can rightfully say that Cobhams captured several minds with the captivating rendition of a soulful song. One that validates Cobhams as one of the best Nigerian singer and song producer that ever lived.

One hit is a desperate call by an upcoming musician to be successful in his industry. The desperate singer who mentions highly rated artistes in the Nigerian music industry quite frankly begs God for just one wish; to blow. To be reckoned with, to be overtly successful.

And as every singer would need a sponsor to shoot music videos and churn out explosive tracks, the desperate singer begs for an investment from Otedola, one of Nigeria’s biggest business moguls to support this song endeavor.

One thing about Cobham’s One hit song is the honesty and urgency of the musical lyrics. Churned out melodiously with a keyboard playing in the background; you can sense that urgency in this musical narrative of someone wanting to be reckoned with. The urgency of the tone adds to the authenticity of the request.

Cobhams vocal cords struck gold on this one as he has always done even in the time past. The lyrics of this song is very straightforward- you can totally relate to this song.

Read Also: Movie review: Fast and furious 8

One hit song also encompasses the frustration any music newbie could face in churning out a track. At a point, the persona in the song commits to Yoruba parlance: Oti e ti sun mi gan ni o ( I am tired). This is as result of numerous try-outs of waxing singles and not getting a single retweet, a like or even an acknowledgement.

Unfortunately, some of these songs don’t get enough air time on radio and it might not be a matter of bad lyrics. It might just be a matter of time or what the people need.

I will rate Cobhams “One hit” a 9/10 for a perfect musical delivery and a fluid narrative. Music success is a hustle, but for Cobhams he drops the perfect lyrics seamlessly.

The profundity of One Hit is so surreal and sublime yet it makes sense in its entirety. The vocal cords and music accompaniments are no doubt perfect, and as always the result will be a harmonious melody.

January 17, 2018
Cleaner Lagos: 100 vehicles for clean up project

To make Lagos a cleaner city and rid it of dirt, Visionscape Sanitation Solutions, currently in a public-private partnership with the Lagos State Government, has received a consignment of a brand new 100 vehicle waste management fleet embedded with cutting-edge technology.

The consignment, which consists of a series of waste trucks from various rear end loaders to operational vehicles, will be deployed for the new environmental policy of the State encapsulated in the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI).

The company according to a statement is set to begin operations across the State to roll out the next phase of the project.

The CLI was established to address, enforce and regulate the challenges in the solid waste management systems within Lagos State. The initiative is focused on improving the environment to make it cleaner, safer and healthier for all residents, as well as improving operational efficiency.

“The addition to the waste management fleet is in line with our commitment to provide integrated waste management services, using state-of-the-art equipment and innovative solutions to help transform megacities,” said Thomas Forgacs, Chief Operations Officer, Visionscape Sanitation Solutions.

As a pioneer in environmental solutions, the Visionscape trucks are fully equipped and embedded with cutting-edge features, which includes a Global Positioning System (GPS), radio-frequency identification (RFID), and automotive Controller Area Network (CAN bus) system.

“These innovative features are designed to meet the operational needs facing waste management across the State. Using these systems, Visionscape will be able to thoroughly monitor and track the State’s waste collection process, ensuring the trucks are seamlessly deployed for effective waste collection, and all communities within Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) and Local Government Areas (LGAs) are covered efficiently.

Dirt on Lagos street . Photo by Olaoluwa Joseph

“In the last six months, we have surveyed all of Lagos State and collated vital data to make our operations highly effective. We therefore understand population density of the communities and areas that will be serviced, even up to the number of streets and households across the State. This preliminary assessment has aided us to know the amount of waste that will be generated in any particular location”, Forgacs stated.

Visionscape currently holds the residential waste collection contract for the State, and the management of three operating waste transfer loading stations, which are currently being renovated, under LAWMA.

Visionscape has also begun construction of West Arica’s first engineered landfill in Epe. To-date, the company has successfully cleared over 1,000 litter black spots and illegal dumpsites across Lagos State, as part of the pre-operational phase.

Dirt on Lagos street. Photo by Olaoluwa Joseph

January 10, 2018